A Murder of Crows: A corvid cross-stitch stitchalong
Starting September 1: Stitch any corvid-related cross-stitch pattern and share your progress on Instagram. Tag @mostlycrafty and #AMurderOfCrowsSAL
Scroll to the bottom to find shareable assets for Instagram.
A Murder of Crows SAL FAQ
What’s a corvid? 🐦⬛
Crows, ravens, magpies, blue jays, Steller’s jays are all corvids, from the family Corvidae.
Why corvids? 🐦⬛
Seattle has an incredible crow population, so much so that University of Washington, Bothell had a crow research station. The crows have mysteriously disappeared but not before some incredible research was done on crows. Crows can remember faces, and teach their young who is safe and who is not. I have made it my goal to befriend my local murder, with the hopes that they will protect my yard from raccoons (see W.A.R.R.R.) and also bring me shiny things. It’s a work in progress.
As for Steller’s Jays, those are unique to the Western US and Canada, and they just look really cool.
What pattern should I stitch?
You can pick a pattern by Lola Crow. You could pick a Blackbird Designs pattern. Or any pattern that includes a corvid. JEDxStitch patterns like Blueberry Jay or Cherry Magpie fit the bill. Any pattern that has a black bird on it is included in A Murder of Crows SAL, including WIPs (works in progress).
Have some Blue Nevermore by Atomic Ranch fabric, some Jay Aida by Picture This Plus, some Black Crow floss by Gentle Arts, or Old Crow Belle Soie by CCW? Great! Happy to include all of those as well in the SAL. If it’s vaguely crow-related, it’s included.
I’m going to stitch the new Tanner’s Trinkets by Boomerang Stitches. And maybe Raven Sampler by Owl Forest Embroidery. And maybe Charbooterie Board by Plum Street Samplers… and maybe…
What’s a stitchalong?
A stitchalong, or stitch-a-long, or SAL, is when stitchers join together to stitch the same pattern or patterns in a common theme. Strawberry Moon SAL (created by Marjorie Made) happens each year in June. Cross-stitchers stitch any pattern with a strawberry theme.
How do I join?
Start any corvid/crow related pattern on September 1. If you like, post your progress on Instagram and tag both @mostlycrafty and use #AMurderOfCrowsSAL You can also post your progress on Flosstube, too, using the same hashtags.
Use these Instagram templates to share your progress on your Instagram story or posts. Right click to Save Image As or Copy Image, and use on your Instagram.
Instagram Post template
Instagram Story template
Selected images from Fish Crow (1832), American Magpie (1837), and Yellow-billed Magpie, Stellers Jay, Ultramarine Jay and Clark’s Crow (1837), by Robert Havell Jr. after John James Audubon. Digital Images from the National Gallery of Art collection, under Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license.
https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
Selected image from Parr’s Swiss styles bird cage (1872). Digital Images from the Library of Congress collection of images in the public domain/free to use and reuse.
https://www.loc.gov/resource/ppmsca.45460/